Ravalli County Community Food Assessment
Meat Processor Survey - Summary
The three large volume meat processors in the valley are:
Hamilton Packing in Hamilton, (Marty, 961-3861);
North American Foods in Hamilton (Howard, 363-1505); and
Lolo Locker in Lolo (Ted 273-3876).
Smaller volume processors are:
Valley Processing in Stevensville (Darius, 777-5684)
Richie’s Processing in Stevensville (Richie, 777-0051)
Lost Horse Custom Cutting south of Hamilton (Duane & Carolyn 363-3876)
Another processor, new to the valley, is Montana Food Products in Lolo (Skip, 241-4119). This
company does not do custom meat processing, but makes products for sale from meats and also from
vegetables and fruits, and they seek local and regional sources for their raw products. They are supplying
schools with the same kinds of products that the schools get in the commodity distributions but of a much
higher quality. They are focused on getting Omega 3 fatty acids into the diets of their customers for health
benefits, using flax and camelina products as additives and flavorings. They have a website listing their
products: usomega3foods.com.
Certification
Two processors, Hamilton Packing and Lolo Locker are “Fully Inspected Processing Plants,” meaning
they are under continuous inspection during their kill days and the meat that they handle can be sold. The
other four processors are “Custom Exempt Processors,” meaning the meat that they cut and wrap is owned
by their customers and cannot be sold and must be labeled, “Not For Sale.” All of these facilities are
inspected and licensed by the Mt. Dept. of Livestock but at different levels.
Facilities
The processor that has been operating the longest is North American Foods which started in 1975.
Hamilton Packing has been operating since 1989 and Lolo Locker since 1983 under the current owner, but
before that operated as Farm and Ranch Foods since the early 1970’s. These businesses process a lot of
animals in a year as in the table below.
Animals processed per year: (estimates)
Processor*
Hamilton Packing
N. Am Foods
Lolo Locker
Lost Horse Custom
Valley Processing
Totals
Domestic
Beef
sheep pork
750
350
250
500
500
500
500
500
500
155
10
10
0
0
0
1905
1360
1260
deer
650
400
600
120
250
2020
elk
325
250
300
90
150
1115
Wild
antelope
145
50
200
20
50
465
moose
13
5
15
4
15
52
other
40
10
10
15
25
100
*Richie’s Processing is not included here because they said they are downsizing to a very low level of
business, only in the fall, and maybe even quitting due to age and health reasons. Valley Processing, Darius,
is also discouraged and is cutting back citing that he can’t get good help and energy costs are a burden.
None of the facilities will process poultry although N. Am. Foods used to. They quit doing poultry five
years ago because it was not financially worth their time. Lost Horse prefers not to deal with bear or emus
because they are just too messy and Lolo Locker thinks emus are too messy also (feathers).
The three large volume processors also do curing (smoke processing) producing hams, bacon, jerky.
Hamilton Packing has two smoke houses, one for ham and bacon and one for jerky.
All but Valley Processing will go out to the farm/ranch for slaughter if asked, but they all prefer to
slaughter in house because it is a cleaner and easier process. Only in very cold weather will they be
reluctant to go to the ranch.
The daily processing capacity of the facilities is as follows:
Ham. Pack: 5-6 beef in back; 25-30 game in front. (could do 20-30 beef/week if had the demand)
Lolo Locker: 10 beef, 30 hog during fair season, normal 6 beef or 20 hogs, game season 2-4 beef/day
in the morning and 25-35 wild game animals in the afternoon.
N. Am. Foods: 5 beef in the fall, 2 beef rest of year when have less staff
Lost Horse Custom: 2 beef/day; or 20 deer/day
Valley Processing: 30 game – only in the fall
Future Plans:
Hamilton Packing has had more animals come in every year, so they are always growing, and plan to
continue in this way. They can handle more animals in their current facility, and are not thinking of building
additions at this time.
Lolo Locker also has more animals to process every year, the business is increasing, and they keep
adding on. They could do more animals in their current facility, but would need to hire more help and would
need more aging coolers and freezer space.
North American Foods also handles more animals every year, and plans to add staff as needed. They
have recently built an addition and do not plan to do more building at this time.
Lost Horse Custom Cutting gets more calls every year but do not want more business. They are
thinking about retirement.
Valley Processing is downsizing saying they can’t get good help and there are too many extra costs.
Waste Disposal:
For all of the processors except Lost Horse Custom Cutting, the offal, bones, and hides are picked up by
Baker Commodities Inc. According to their website, Baker Commodities, with a network of more than 21
facilities across the U.S. is one of the nation’s leading providers of rendering and grease removal services,
converting animal by-products and food waste into commercial commodities such as high-protein and fat
ingredients for livestock feed and pet food, tallow for soaps, lubricants and cosmetics, and oils for the
biodiesel market. They also prepare hides for the leather market. The division serving this area is in
Spokane with a transfer station in Missoula.
The cost to meat processors for this service keeps going up. The processors used to get paid for both the
offal and the hides. Then for a while the payment stopped and now the company charges $110 per pickup,
no matter what the amount is. During the busy fall season, the larger volume processors need two pickups a
week, and one pickup a week the rest of the year. For Hamilton Pack, this represents 10-20,000 lb/week of
offal/hides during the fall and around 2-3,000 lb/week the rest of the year.
Fees:
A typical kill fee at the plant for beef is $30 - $45, and for sheep and hogs it is $25 - $35. There is an
extra charge for the mobile slaughter unit to go to the farm. The fee for the butchering (cut and wrap) is
usually $.50/lb based on the hanging weight of the carcass after skin and offal are removed. Valley and Lost
Horse charge $.65/lb hanging weight for butchering the wild animals. There are a variety of processing
options that the customer may choose from, like amount of aging, boneless or not, vacumn packing, double
wrap, labeling, %fat in burger, kinds of cuts, etc.
One processor noted that a facility in Ronan (Whites) has raised their kill fee to $75 because of the extra
waste disposal fees being charged by Baker Commodities and because beef hide values have disappeared.
Steer hides that were worth $33 four months ago are now only worth $1 each. Slaughter plants use the hides
in addition to the slaughter fee to pay the labor for slaughter. With hides becoming worthless, plants must
2
raise their fees in order to stay profitable. Lolo Locker will also be raising their slaughter fees to account for
the loss in hide values. Other processors are now thinking of raising their kill fees as well. This would have
a discouraging effect on the ranchers who are already dealing with low profit margins.
Animal Acquisition
Most of the animals that these facilities process come from Ravalli County, except Lolo Locker which is
close to Missoula and does process a lot of animals from Missoula County, and even further afield. N. Am.
Foods reports that they do 100% Bitterroot animals except for a few antelope brought in by hunters. Valley
Processing does receive game animals that were killed in other western states by local hunters bringing their
meat home to be processed. Lost Horse has customers from the Big Hole area bringing in steers.
The owners of these businesses like working with local farmers/ranchers. They get to know how the
producers manage their herds and can develop a working relationship that can last for years. They know
that the trade is a benefit to the local economy. Most always the product is fine, but occasionally there are
concerns with consistency and quality.
Sales
Only Hamilton Packing and Lolo Locker are authorized to sell meat or to process meat to be sold. Most
of the animals that they process are for other owners, but they do purchase animals for their own sales as
well. They both sell meat from their facilities. Since a steer has a limited amount of the prime cuts, both
businesses do purchase boxed meat of the high end muscle cuts from the conventional beef distributors for
sale out of their display cases or for special orders. The lower end muscle cuts may or may not be from local
animals, but the hamburger always is from local cull cows and bulls. Both facilities must now purchase hogs
from the producer in Whitehall as local farmers have stopped producing hogs.
Lolo Locker sells meat in both Ravalli and Missoula Counties. Hamilton Packing’s sales are mostly
in Ravalli County and the majority of sales for both are to individuals coming to their stores. Lolo Locker
sells to the Good Food Store, to the Bitterroot Grocery Emporium, and to two restaurants. Hamilton Packing
butchers some lambs for Super 1, and the Hospital, and sells 500-600 lb/week of hamburger to Naps Grill
and they also have quite a large market for sausage and jerky.
Both businesses would be happy to see more local customers sourcing local meat and both could easily
accommodate larger processing volumes. They would prefer to have a continuous, steady flow of business
rather than the hectic time in the fall and then slow periods at other times. The benefits of selling locally
are that you get to know your customers and enjoy making them happy, and you don’t have to deal with
shipping.
Most of the processors in this survey do not find the regulations, legal constraints or inspections to be
obstacles to their business.
Conclusion
The three large volume processors have had a consistent growth in business over recent years and are all
able to increase the volume of animals that they process with their current facilities, with perhaps only the
addition of aging coolers and freezer space. They would prefer to have a continuous, steady flow of business
rather than the hectic time in the fall and then slow periods at other times. The benefits of selling locally are
that you get to know your customers and enjoy making them happy, and you don’t have to deal with
shipping.
3